"You don't speak unless you are spoken to and your body speaks to the space you fill and you keep trying to fill it except the space belongs to the body of the man next to you, not to you."
This line comes from Making Room, of the situation videos section of Citizen, although it is not exactly for a situation video. In this the narrator describes a moment where she sits in the seat next to a man on the train that the woman who gets on before her seems afraid to fill. What stood out to me about this story is the unspoken relationship between the narrator and the man and how it is so focused on the man, and the damage or pain this empty seat causes him. If I had seen this interaction, between the man and the first woman to get on the train, I think I would have noticed, but I don't know how if I would have thought so intensely about the man's struggle with this space that follows him.
Another line that stood out to me is "You would cease to struggle against the unoccupied seat when where why the space won't lose its meaning." This line stands out to me in how it reveals the struggle that is so strong its absence would be noted if the man was to leave his seat. The damage this causes to the man, Rankine describes as "might forever be to late or to early" to be repaired. With this section Rankine describes an unfortunately common situation to show the immense emotional damage that is caused by what is often seen as a benign 'microaggression.' But in including this in a section that is mostly dedicated remembering the unjust deaths of black men, Rankine illustrates how these situations are related and how much of an effect this sort of prejudice has.
You argued a really important part of this story. I agree with you that most people would notice that the woman was afraid to sit but few would think about the damage that does to the man. Rankine's whole book is about how the world makes black people feel and she wants people to see the harsh realities of that while also speaking to black people and providing a space to band together against the world that tries to push them back.
ReplyDeleteI think you made a really great point by highlighting the space we leave behind. These microaggressions culminate into something that takes up its own space. And when do we stop seeing humans as humans and start seeing them as the addition of their experiences? Perhaps the empty seat represents someone who used to be there, as well.
ReplyDeleteIn normal daily life, I don't recognize that every move I make has an impact. Certain values and ideals and morals are ingrained in a person that makes them less conscious of whether it is their own thoughts that decide their actions or society's ideas that rule their actions. Society as a whole has the idea that strangers are dangerous, but if they are black strangers it is even more dangerous. However these thoughts don't register to us because it is a normal thing to stay away from what we perceive as dangerous. Thus the cycle continues through generations. It is important to notice the little things that are hurtful and correct them.
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